Can New York’s new mayor put the practical in progressive?

Don’t let the fact that New York Mayor-elect Eric Adams is an outspoken vegan fool you. 

Make no mistake, after being diagnosed with diabetes, Mayor-elect Adams embraced a plant-based diet and talks, often, about losing 35 pounds and seeing his health improve. The former state senator and then-Brooklyn borough president has become something of a public health evangelist, promoting a vegan lifestyle.

At the same time, New York City’s incoming mayor, a Brooklyn native and former captain in the New York Police Department, has cultivated a working-class coalition more likely to prefer barbecues and cream in their coffee instead of the kale smoothies he often champions.  

After he’s sworn into office on Jan. 1, Mr. Adams, who will become the second Black mayor in the history of the nation’s largest city, will in many ways offer a challenge to the ascendant progressive wing of the Democratic